In 1991, Anita Hill galvanized the country as she accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. He got the nomination in the end, but she unleashed a wave of women running for office.

"Now they are paying him millions of dollars to exit when in fact he should not have been granted the contract because the evidence was clear," Hill said. "We need to be able to look and use this as a case study of what not to do."

"The social media companies don't understand harassment," said Ellen Pao, who filed a gender bias lawsuit against one of Silicon Valley's most revered venture capital firms.

She lost, but in the process ignited a debate on bias in tech.

"When you look at tech, it comes from the top and there's a lack of willpower to put in the change," Pao said. "It's so much easier to push women out."

The audience was inspired.

"I am a survivor of workplace harassment," said an attendant of the talk. "And it does affect your life in many, many ways."

"It never stops until we start treating each other better," said another attendant.